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Visits to all ASEAN member nations show the region matters to India
The overall context of the Southeast Asian visits is the consolidation of bilateral engagement with the countries that will chair ASEAN and coordinate the India-ASEAN partnership.
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Side by side: Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar (center) and his counterparts from ASEAN member countries join a photo session ahead of their meeting in New Delhi on June 10, 2022. (Twitter account/Indian foreign minister)
India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar reemphasized the importance of India's ASEAN partnership with a visit to Singapore, the Philippines and Malaysia in March.
He met the Thai foreign minister in February in India for the 10th Joint Communion and visited Indonesia for the ASEAN and East Asia Ministerial Summit in July last year, where he met foreign ministers of Indonesia, Laos and Malaysia. He followed it up with a visit to Thailand, which included a foreign ministerial meeting of the Mekong Ganga Cooperation. In October of that year, he visited Vietnam.
With the most recent visit to Southeast Asia, Jaishankar has completed interactions within the last year to most members of ASEAN.
Singapore, as India's coordinator with ASEAN, is vigorous in promoting the relationship. Singapore remains the largest conduit of ASEAN-India investments.
With Malaysia, the relationship is back on an even keel after its foreign minister visited India in November 2023. With Jaishankar’s visit to Kuala Lumpur, the bilateral relationship is looking to consolidate, particularly with its economic partnership. Malaysia will chair ASEAN in 2025.
The India-Philippines relationship has enhanced under Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s presidency. The Philippine foreign minister visited India in June 2023. The strategic coherence and defense cooperation with the Philippines is now perhaps the best among all ASEAN countries.
